The Aberdares are cold, wet and green, and the park feels more like a highland forest than a classic safari. Moorland above the forest line is covered in giant heather, and streams run down through bamboo into rainforest.

The signature experience is the tree lodges. Two famous lodges, Treetops and The Ark, are built on stilts overlooking floodlit waterholes and salt licks, so guests can watch elephants, buffalo, rhino and forest hogs from comfortable viewing decks through the night. Treetops became known worldwide in 1952, when Princess Elizabeth stayed there on the night her father died and became Queen.

The Aberdare range rises about 100 kilometres north of Nairobi, between the town of Nyeri and the Rift Valley. The national park covers roughly 767 square kilometres and was established in 1950. It climbs from around 2,000 metres to about 4,000 metres above sea level, which means the weather is very different from the plains: cool, damp and often misty, with real cold at night.

The landscape changes with altitude. Lower slopes are covered in thick forest, which gives way to bamboo, then to open moorland near the top, where giant heathers and tussock grass grow in the cold. Deep V-shaped valleys cut by streams and rivers run down the slopes, and many of them end in waterfalls.

The Aberdares are best known for tree-top lodges built overlooking waterholes. The most famous, Treetops, has a place in history: in 1952 Princess Elizabeth was staying there when she learned that her father had died and she had become Queen. Other lodges in the area, such as The Ark, follow a similar idea, with a raised viewing platform over a waterhole and an overnight stay that is built around the animals coming in.

These lodges have their own rules. Access is often by a transfer in a special vehicle from a base hotel, rooms are small, and the focus is on the night watch rather than comfort. They suit travellers who love the atmosphere of waiting for wildlife, and those who value the history.

The Aberdares were thickly forested and sparsely settled, and in the 1950s their forests became a stronghold of the Mau Mau fighters during the struggle for independence. Today the park is a place of recovery and conservation, and the forest is an important water catchment for much of central Kenya. Rivers that supply farms and towns in central Kenya begin in these hills. Protecting the Aberdares protects the people who live downstream.

Parts of the range are surrounded by electric fences that keep elephants and other wildlife away from farms and people away from the forest. The fences reduce conflict, and they protect crops and lives, but they also limit the movement of animals. Managing that balance is a continuing task for the Kenya Wildlife Service and conservation groups. Visitors help by staying at lodges that support local communities and by following park rules.

Information was compared across sources. Wildlife is wild and sightings vary. Please confirm details with us when you book.

• Aberdare National Park (Wikipedia)